Grab bucket



Sept. 23 1924.

w. c. BOLGIANO GRAB BUCKET 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 19 Hls Artur-0&9

sept z3 1924'. 1,509,187

W. C. BOLGIANO GRAB BUCKET l Filed March l. 1924 2 sneels-sneer 2 Inventor:

Wfl/1am C'. vSaly/amy.

Patente-d Sept..` 23, 1924.

evitar WILLIAM'. C. IBOLG-IANO, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE BROWN HOISTING- i MACHINERY COMPANY, F CLEVELAND, OHIO.

GRAB BUCKET.

Application mea Marcil 19, 1924. yserieu No. 700,341.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM C. BoLGL-iNo,

a citizen of the United States, residing in the cityV of Cleveland, county of Cuyahoga, and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Grab Buckets, of which the following is a clear and exact description, reference being niade to; the accompanying drawings, which form part of the specifications, and; wherein the same parts fare designated lby the same numerals in each case.

My invention relates to grab-buckets and particularly to that type known as cleanup. buckets. Since clean-up buckets require no bucket'framing, it is a considerable problem to nd ways and means to support and keep, at all times, a perfect alignment ot' the bucket-opening-rope sheaves and block and the consequent alignment ot the bumper or contact parts which it is desirable that such blocks should maintain.

The principal object of my invention is toprovide a simple and inexpensive means for supporting the bottom-block of a bucket-opening-rope system and of keeping the same to a predetermined relation with the top-block of said system regardless of what position the scraping scoops may take when the bucket is lowered to the material to be gathered up. p The character' ot' the invention will be easily understood upon reference to the drawings and reading the same in conjunction with the specifications.

In the said drawings, Figure I Vis a side view, in wide open position, ot' a grabbucket which embodies my invention; F igure II is a developed view, in plan, of the bucket opening links; Figure: III is a diagrammatic View of the two several rope systems (opening and closing) and illustrates the necessity for the peculiar construction ot certain details that are governed by the invention `Figure IV is an enlarged view of the buckets head and opening links showing the angular relation of the latter and the invention when the bucket is wide open; Figure V is ai view of a portion of the opening links showing the angular relation of the same and the invention when the bucket is in its closed position; Figure VI is av developed view, in plan, withv certain parts in section, showing the manner in which the sheaves and sheavecases oi the bottom block are supported in their skewed relation to the link hinge-pin, Figures V II and VIII are, respectively, side and vertical sectional views of the sheavecase and its travel-limit bumper, and Figure IX is an end view of the casting that supports the bottom-block sheave in its skewed relation with the bucket-closing link pm.

Referring to the drawings, B is the bucket as a whole; in general it comprises the scoopmembers l, l, the links 2, 2, 2a, 2, 2b, 2b, etc., the top-block 3, and the bottom-block il, composed of members 4L, 4?.

The scoop-members l, l, are connected to each other at their inner ends by the hingepin 5 which pin also supports the top-block 3. The bucket-openinglinks 2, 2, 2a, 2a, 2b, 2b, 2b, 2b, are pivotally connected, at their upper ends, to the upper ends ot the scoopmembers l, l, by means ot the pins 6, 6, and are of such equal length that when joined together at their other ends by the pin 7, they will have an angular relation one with the other and the apex of the angle thus formed will be directly below the hinge-pin 5, and on thecenter line of the bucket. Ihe top-block 3 which is supported by the hinge-pin 5, as above stated, contains sheaves 8 and 9 of the bucket-closing system `and sheaves l() and ll of the bucketopening system and is provided with a downwardly extending bumping block 3u. Approximately midway of the scoop-members, as a whole, are located in pairs, sheaves 12,12, l2, 12 and are part of the closing rope system. A rope 13, passes downwardly and under the sheave 8 tin the top-block 3, thence, as viewed in the drawing, to, over and half-way around one of the sheaves l2 in the lett-hand scoop member, thence to, under and halt way around one of the sheaves l2 in the other scoop-member,

Ythence to, over and half-way around the second sheave 12 in the left-hand scoopmember, thence to, under and half way around the second sheave 12 in the right hand scoop member', thence to,'under and quarterway around the sheave 9 in the topy block 3, thence upwardly to a trolley,

b bucket, consequently, when a clean-up bucket is also handled by the same trolley its rope leads must be substantially the same as those in the digging bucket, which, in addition toV the large sized sheaves required for the large diameter operating ropes make 1t necessary to skew the sheaves in the top-block and bottom-block (see Figure lll) to get the proper rope leads. Y

Toy economize 1n material and room, and,

' in order to get a compact design of the bucket-opening mechanism, the pin 7 is utilized to support the bottom-block. As will be seen, upon referring to` Figure lll, sheaves 4", 4", of the bottom-block members 4a, 4a., are skewed to mee-t the requirements pointed out above, and require specially constructed journal or axle pieces 14, 14, in

, conjunction with the pin 7, upon which to rotate. Centrally of the shaft 14 is a cylindrical portion 14 upon which the she-ave 4b is mounted and rotates when actuated by a bucket-opening rope 15. On each side of the central portion 14a and of lesser diameter and somewhat narrower are sheaveecase supports 14", 14". N ext adjacent to the supports 14", 14", but diagonally opposite, are vertical surfaces 14", 14". rlhe axle 14 is bored to accommodate the pin 7. This bore is in skewed relation with the axis of the cylindrical portion 14a and the two axes intersect midway of the axles length. The axle 14 is cut away at 14d, 14d to provide clearance for assembling the sheaves 4", 4" and sheave-cases 16, 16 and, it is provided with bolt holes 14", 14e whereby it can be fastened to the pin 7, by means of suitable bolts adapted to go through the same and through holes that are concentrically located in the pin 7, when the axle 14 is in position on the pin 7.

The sheave-cases 16, 16 are made up of the two plates 16, 16a that are circular in outline, separators 16", 16", 16", bumperblock 16", reinforcing plates 16d, 161 and keeper bars 16", 16e. The correlation of the severa-l component parts of the sheave-cases 16 is clearly shown in Figures VH and the same, and bolt holes 16g, which are located near their peripheries. The bore 16t is slightly larger than the diameter of the por-v tions 14", 14" of the axle 14 and the distances from the center of the bore to the inner edges of the bars 16", 16e are suliieient to insure a proper fit between 4them andthe vertical faces 14", 14c of said axle when they are riveted in place on the plates.

The link pin 7 which supports and Yjoins the links 2, 2, 2", 2a, etc., at their inner ends extends transversely of the bucket and projects through the links 2", 2a far enough to accommodate arms 17, 17, which are fastened to the pin by means of the bolts 18, 18 that are adapted to engage the holes 18a in the hub of the arm 17 and similar holes in the pin 7 near its ends. A.' pin 19 is secured to the free end ofthe arm'17 upon which is lmounted a lever 2O that has at the end of'its longer arm, which extends outwardly from the vpin 19, an inwardly extending link-engaging piece 20a. l

The links 2", 2a are provided at 'the lower ends and on the upper surface thereof with upwardly projecting lever-engaging Yfingers 21. The links 2 are provided near their 'lower ends with lever-retaining plates 22.

As will be obvious certain of the pieces described, the journal or axle piecesk14 for instance, are made separate from the parts with which they are associated, mainly from considerations of construction, or assem` blage. By varyingthe structural principle in certain respects, such pieces may be formed Vintegral with these parts.

Having named and designated with ref erenee characters all the essential details required for the operation of .myj invention,

directions for their proper assembling areV now in order and attention is called, particularly, to Figures Il and VI. After the bucket proper yhas been assembled 'with the top-block 3 in place and the bucket-opening links 2, 2a, 2", etc., pivotally connected at their upper ends to the scoop members 1, 1, thepin 7 is made to engage one ofthe links 2" bypassing it through the bore of the link; the complemental link 2 is next threaded on the pin and the pin is projected 'far enough to accommodate one of the bottom-b`lock members 4a, 4a. To assemble a bottom-block member 4", rst place a sheave 4"v on the center or portion 14a of the special axle 14;

next, place a plate 16""011 each ofthe portions 14" with the reinforcing plates 16d up and away from the sheave 4", this will bring the keeper-bars 16e, 16e next to the faces 14", 14C of the special axle 14 and keep the plates 16a, 1621 from turning on the axle.; the bumper block 16c and the separators 16", 16", 16" are next inserted between the plates 16", 16a in their designed places 'and are bolted together by bolts-'not shown-#that engage the holes 16g. The pin is now shoved through the bores of a pair of links 2b, 2b

`then through 4"a pipe separator 23, then through the bores of a second` pair of links 2b, 2b, then through theV bore of the second special-shaft 14, of the second bottom-block member 4a, then through the fourth pair of link-members, composed of the links 2 and 2a, respectively, far enough to accommodate one of the arm-members 17. Enough of the pin 7 remains on the entering side to accommodate the second arm-member 17. The special axles or shafts 14, 14 and the arms 17 17 are then secured to the pin 7 by means of bolts as above referred to: the bumper blocks 16C, 16c are directed upwardly and vertically, and the arms 17 17 bear predetermined right and left angular relations with them. The inwardly extending members 20a, 20a, engage the holes of the plates 22, 22 and the shorter arm of the lever 2O engages the finger piece 21 of the link 2a. As viewed in Figure II the arm 17 on the near end of the pin 7 has an angular relation A (shown in Figures IV and V) with the center line of bucket that passes through the centers of the pins 5 `and 7, and the arm 17, on the far end of the pin 7, bears' a like relation to the vertical center line of bucket, at the left of such line.

When the bucket is suspended by the closing-rope 13, the scoop-members 1, 1, will have been brought together at their digging edges and the angular relation of the pairs of links 2, 2a-with respect to the vertical center line of the bucketwill be as indicated at C, C in Figure V. To open a bucket of the two-rope type the weight of the v bucket is transferred from the closing-rope to the opening rope through a proper manipulation of the brakes and clutches on the supporting trolley. v

The bucket-opening-rope 15 is dead-ended in the trolley from whence it passes downwardly to, under and half way around one of the sheaves 4b in the bottom block 4,

- thence upwardly to, over and quarter way around the sheave 10 in the top block 3, thence to, over and quarter way around the sheave 11 in the top block, thence downwardly to, under and half way around the second sheave 4b in the bottom-block, thence upwardly to the winding drum on the trolley.

During the opening or dumping operation of the bucket the angular relation of the pairs of links 2, 2a. etc., will change from an acute angle D when the bucket is fully closed) to an obtuse angle E when the bucket is widel open). While this change in angular relation is taking place the friction set up in the sheave bearings of the bottomblock 4, by the bucket-opening rope 15, tends to rotate the bottom-block, the pin 7 and the arms 20, 20 about the axis of the pin 7. The twisting or tendency to rotate of the bottom-block 4 is thereupon restrained by levers 20, 2O which are themselves held against rotationabout the axis of the pin 7 by links 2, 2 and the lingers 21, 21 on the links 2a, 2a. When the twisting is in the direction indicatedby the arrow at I", the lever 20 on the near side of the bucket,as viewed in Figure II, is rotated about the pin 19 with reactions at the ends of its longer and shorter arms where they contact with the link 2 and the finger 21 of the link 2a, respectively; as the bottom-block approaches lthe top-block the lever 20, rotating about the pin 19, changes its angular relations with the vertical center line of the bucket and the link 2 but holds the arm 17 and the bottomblock 4 to theirl predetermined relations with t-he vertical center line of the bucket. During the opening operation the lever 20 on the opposite side of the bucket does not function, and it is held in place by the keeper-plate 22. When the twisting is in the direction indicated by the arrow at Gr (as when the bucket is being closed), the bottom-block aligning details which are on the opposite side of the bucket, and opposite side of the center line of the bucket, function and the lever 2O on the near side of the bucket is held to itsplace by its keeperplate 22.

WVhat I claim and wish to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. In a clean-up bucket for overhead trolleys wherein the spade-arm members are revolvably connected to a common cross-pin above, and the bucket opening and closing links are pivtally comiected at their upper ends to the inner ends of the scoop-members and, at their lower ends, are revolvably mounted upon a common cross-pin below, the combination of a top-block mounted on the cross-pin above, a bottom-block iixedly mounted on the cross pin below, and means for counteracting any axial movement of the cross-pin below during the vertical movements of said pin and connected links during the opening and closing operations of said bucket, substantially as shown and described.

2. In a clean-up bucket for overhead trolleys, the combination of scoop-members oppositely connected at their inner ends by a hinge-pin extending crosswise of said ends, a top-block, containing bucket-opening and closing sheaves; bucketopening and closing links of equal length pivotally connected at one end to `said inner ends of said scoopmembers at corresponding points thereon, and, at their other ends to a hinge-pin extending cross-wise of said other ends; a bottom-block ixedly seated upon said last named pin containing a freely mounted sheave in alignment with said bucket opening sheave above; bucket closing sheaves operatively mounted on the lower or outer extremities of said scoop-members, a bumperblock extending downwardly from said Vtop.- @ne openingvgnd .clogging Qlog'tigns of b1ock,-2Lnd a bumpenblook projecting radbnoket,. substantially as how; and' der ally upwards from said .bottom-block, toscribed. n gether withl oo-aotng means connected to l WILLlAM C. BQLGlANO. said 'links and said hinge-pin last above Witn'egses:

..11amed, for holding Said pin against axial L. P.LI1 BS, f

movement during its fvevtcal movements in C. S. M .ALTBI 

